


Clarity

by wakemeup



Category: USWNT - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-22
Updated: 2013-06-22
Packaged: 2017-12-15 19:25:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/853162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakemeup/pseuds/wakemeup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the best things are quiet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clarity

Tobin’s only ever had an epiphany about one thing and that was her love of soccer. The moment she picked up that first ball and starting playing around with it was the moment she realized that, dang soccer is really cool. She began to do it whenever she could. She’d go out before before dinner and kick the ball against the fence of her home when she was 5. By the time she was 8 she had worn down her tennis shoes and had to beg her mom to buy her a sensible pair of cleats that she could use. It took almost a month of dishwashing and vacuuming, but when Tobin get’s to go to the sports store with her mom and pick out a pair of black and silver adidas cleats she knows all those dishes were worth it.

 

When Tobin’s turning 10 and entering 5th grade she knows how to juggle the ball on her head. At that point Tobin knows that yeah, soccer is pretty awesome and it’s probably the best sport ever. Ten year old Tobin starts playing soccer with a team for the first time and and it’s 1998. By 1999 women’s soccer is blowing up and the world cup is there and Tobin remembers blurting out “I think I’m in love with soccer” at the dinner table. When the US does with the Cup Tobin watched every game and it just pushed her to be that much better. She spent nights out in her backyard kicking the ball and just coming up with new moves.

 

By the time Tobin graduates high school she’s accumulated so many awards it’s overwhelming. She thanks God for the opportunities she’s received and the skill she’s able to have everyday. Tobin’s only priorities at that point in her life were family, God, and soccer. When she receives her acceptance letters to UNC and joins the collegiate team her family is just as ecstatic as she is. Her family is her number one support and she can’t even begin to explain how much that means. When she racks up over 15 honours at UNC she sets her heart out to make this a career. She’s in love with this sport and it makes her feel like she’s on top of the world. It took her years to perfect the laidback look she’s got when the ball at her feet.

 

When Tobin joins the senior Women’s National Team against Finland in ‘08 she doesn’t think nerves exist for her anymore. After playing with the U-16, U-17, and U-20 team she’s seen the crowds and she’s been playing the game for almost 15 years. The ball is an extension of who she is and the way she glides over it and the way commenters and analyst describe her movement just makes her that much more confident.

 

Meeting Alex Morgan threw Tobin off. The young striker was funny and had a sense of humor that rivaled Tobin’s own. However, despite them being on the same team, they had their separate friends. It wasn’t till one night when Tobin was out longboarding (outside the dorm rooms they were staying in for training camp) that she skated passed Alex situated on the grass a little ways off the sidewalk. Tobin remembers having to squint really hard to see the strikers figure because it was so dark out. The midfielder rolled right passed her and ended up turning around to yell out, “Hey!” Their friendship started that night as they both battled some insomnia and shared their love of music.

 

Falling in love with Alex was a slow and anything but an epiphany. It didn’t hit Tobin like her love for soccer did. It creeped up on her and she came to a slow realization. When Alex found out that Tobin was sort of “homeless” (which Tobin rebuts because she’s not homeless she’s a nomad or rather an adventurer) she drags her back to her apartment in Portland to spend some time together. Tobin convinces Alex to go on a road trip and they end up going surfing (Alex failing because it’s her first time) and longboarding and buying so much Hawaiian shaved ice that they feel like puking. It’s after Alex sticks out her tongue to show Tobin how the syrup has dyed it that Tobin begins to feel something more than adoration. A few weeks later after they go their separate ways Tobin’s been spending a lot of time soul searching.

 

This isn’t new for Tobin. Every time she hangs out with her friends she learns how to laugh louder. Every time she reads the bible she discovers something new. Every time she speaks to her siblings she gains a new piece of knowledge. Every time she spends time with her parents she acquires a new sense of appreciation for life. But every time Tobin Powell Heath even talks to Alex she feels like life is just beginning.

 

Again, this was a slow and eventual realization, but Tobin accepts it because she’s been on Earth for 23 years now and there’s never been a moment in her life when she’s doubted her skill, her family, or her faith. Who she is is an accumulation of those three things and she knows that she feels this way for a reason and she’s never willed any harm on anyone so she’ll pray at night like she always does and she has faith that what she’s feeling is right because she’s made in His image.

 

When the USWNT meet again for camp before the World Cup Tobin asks Alex if they can meet up before and head over together. Alex agrees and when Tobin drives her jeep to Alex’s apartment Alex jumps in and hugs her enthusiastically. Tobin knows that Alex is just hyper and excited to reunite with the team and the game she holds so close to heart. Tobin reveals in the passion that Alex has. The determination that the striker has and the way she just holds a confidence above anything Tobin’s ever seen. She loves that about Alex more than anything physical. On the ride over to the airport Alex speaks about what she’s been doing and then asks Tobin how her ‘soul searching’ has gone because she knows what and how Tobin operates.

 

Tobin dives in head first and tells Alex everything. Honesty has always been the best policy and by the end of the ride and by the time they actually get to camp they’ve figured things out. They’re good at communicating because where Alex is impatient and pushy Tobin is patient and calm. Alex can’t help but ask why and as Tobin answers she can see the happiness and content reflected back in her car partner.

 

Tobin knows this is just the beginning of what she has with Alex, but she can’t help but remember how she felt about soccer when she just 5 years old. She held a strong devotion to the sport she plays for a living then and she’s 23 now and she feels the same way towards the green eyed beauty she can claim as her own. She can only hope and pray that it’ll grow the same way her love of soccer did. Her passion for soccer hit her like a ton of bricks and invoked an excitement she thrived off of, but her love for Alex came calm and gentle and she knows that her feelings will grow in a similar way; slow and gentle and quiet.

  
  



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